An interview with the legendary Jay Maisel – a lifelong Nikon photographer (1931-2026)

Here is an interview by Steve Simon from PhotoEducate with the legendary Jay Maisel – a lifelong Nikon photographer who handed away on August twenty fourth on the age of 95:

Jay Maisel was a lifelong Nikon photographer, though, as this interview makes clear, gear was all the time secondary to what he noticed and the way he noticed it. In 2011, I sat down with Jay whereas engaged on a e book concerning the Nikon system. I’ve my very own unusually deep attachment to Nikon, maybe as a result of its cameras have given me so many extraordinary moments all through my life, however the e book was by no means accomplished. I nonetheless hope it is likely to be sometime. With Jay’s passing, I returned to this dialog, which has remained unseen till now.

Reading it once more, I’m struck by how clearly his voice comes by. He was direct, humorous, impatient with nonsense and by no means particularly excited by gear for its personal sake. Yet his ideas about cameras and lenses inevitably grew to become ideas about seeing: what we discover, what will get in the way in which and the way the instruments we feature can both free us or weigh us down.

There are tales right here that even longtime admirers of Jay’s work could not know, together with just a few surprises. He talks concerning the cameras he liked, those he resisted, the gear he misplaced or dropped into the ocean, and why he believed the digicam itself had been designed the other way up. Beneath the humor was a photographer who knew what mattered to him and spent a lifetime studying the way to stay open to the surprising.

Jay impressed generations of photographers, together with me. His images confirmed us what can occur once we decelerate and really concentrate. So did the way in which he moved by the world. He appeared fastidiously and remained curious. He trusted mild, gesture, coloration and likelihood, reminding us that images begins with how we see, lengthy earlier than we press the shutter.

I’m grateful we had this dialog, and sorry it took his passing for me to return to it. I share it now as a small tribute to Jay and to the lasting affect he had on so many people who care deeply about images.

Steve S. So this factor I’m doing is on the Nikon system and it’s known as the Nikon Dream System.

Jay M. You know I’m not a technical man.

Steve S. No, you don’t must be.  This is extra about philosophy and stuff. Do you bear in mind what your first digicam was?

Jay M. The first digicam I ever used was a borrowed Kodak 35…and the second digicam was a Kine Exakta, which I borrowed from Buckminster Fuller.  The third digicam that I bear in mind was a Miranda. I’ve been taking pictures since 1954. I received my first Nikon after they first made it the 12 months the Nikon F got here out, 1959. I nonetheless have 16 Nikon F’s. I’ve shot 8×10, 4×5, I’ve shot 120. I’ve shot panoramic cameras that weren’t Nikon however with 35mm it has all the time been Nikon. I purchased a Canon as soon as and I returned it the following day. I purchased a Rolleiflex as soon as and returned that the following day.  

Steve S. What is your Nikon system philosophy, I do know your mantra to a sure diploma is “one camera, one lens – you’re going to shoot more.”  But once you construct a system or once you have been constructing your system, how did you go about it?

Jay M. When I began I had 4 main lenses. It was a 50mm Nikon, a 90mm Macro that didn’t have something to do with Nikon. A 180mm Olympic Sonar from Zeiss and a 300mm Sonar from Zeiss.  Those have been my main lenses.  And then Nikon got here out with the 180 and I purchased that and different lenses as they got here out.  But I used that system for a really very long time. Do you wish to discuss non-Nikon stuff?   

Steve S. Sure.

Jay M. I additionally had configured my stuff in order that I might use the 180, the 90 and the 300 on my Hasselblad with a minor modification so I might swap them from one to the opposite. I appreciated the Hasselblad 1000 F’s; you might put any lens on it so I had the benefit of utilizing regardless of the hell I needed. But I used to be taking pictures Hasselblad as a result of I did lots of album covers, sq. format.  

There was one explicit incident that made me quit the Hasselblad.  I wasn’t taking pictures albums anymore I used to be doing promoting and this artwork director stated to me, “I want you to shoot this 120.”  

I stated “we’re shooting fucking here to here. Think. 120’s going to be a ball-breaker to do that.” I imply, I can get a pentaprism so I’m not trying down, however nonetheless, it’d be straightforward to shoot the 35 and also you’d get higher high quality.  “No, no, I want 120,” he stated. 

Anyway, I shot the job 120 and 35 and after I confirmed him the 35 he wouldn’t take a look at the 120.  And in order that was just about the final time I used 120 for skilled functions. From that point on it was 99% Nikon.

Steve S. Were you fast to undertake new Nikon stuff because it got here out?

Jay M. Oh yeah. Here’s a degree. When Nikon got here out with the Nikon F2, I wouldn’t get it.  Because I felt it was an excessive amount of electronics in it.  And so I saved going with my F.  When they got here out with the F3, Marty Forsher put his foot down and stated, “I can’t repair these fucking things anymore. You have beat the shit of them.  It’s just too tough to repair them.”  

So I’ve about 16 Fs, I had no F2s. I’ve eight F3s.  About 4/5 F4s and one F5.  And by the point the D1 got here and I used to be into the digital.

Steve S. Before we get into the entire digital factor and the D1 and past, simply getting again to your authentic system, I feel it was three or 4 lenses you talked about.  As your profession and your images progressed, what have been a number of the different acquisitions when it comes to Nikon lenses that you just received that you just actually form of fell in love with?

Jay M. Well, the 300 f2.8, the 600 F4, the 200 F2, the – afterward the zoom lenses, the actually good zoom lenses.  I began with the primary zoom lens they ever made, the 43-86, didn’t prefer it, there was a high quality about it that wasn’t as a lot enjoyable.  Anyway, I’m attempting to suppose what different lenses I liked.  Well, I’ve all the time liked the 50s.  

Steve S. Which 50?

Jay M. Well, I had a lot of 50 1.4s, after which I had the 58mm 1.2, and I’ll, however I’m undecided about this, I’ll have had a 55 in there however I could also be incorrect.  I don’t know if it was.  

Steve S. There have been lots of lengthy telephotos that you just describe early on.  What is it that attracted you, I imply, I do know in your work that you just do use telephotos.  

Jay M. Don’t neglect the 1000.

Steve S. Tell me about that.  What was it, the 1000 F-11 mirror?

Jay M. No, I had a 1000 F6.3. Nikon doesn’t find out about this. They’re too younger. I had a giant argument with the Nikon individuals after they got here right here as a result of I stated I had a Nikon F6.3 with a diaphragm on a catadioptric (mirror) lens . 

They stated no, they by no means made diaphragms on catadioptric lenses. 

“Want to put money on it?” I stated. And after I confirmed it to them they stated possibly you’d like to provide this to our museum.  I stated possibly you’d like to speak about cash.  Anyway …

Steve S. Well, inform me about that lens.  How did you get it?  Why did you get it?

Jay M. It had been rented out so much by Sports Illustrated and Life.  At some level they stated if anybody desires to purchase it…so I purchased it.  There’s additionally a 1000mm Maksutov, the Russian one I exploit. 

I then traded all my Aeroflex gear to Steven Wilkes in return for the Nikon 2000 F11; nonetheless have that. He needed to attempt movie, so we did a commerce. I might shoot from throughout the constructing right here with the 2000mm, and his solely window confronted a white brick wall, so, you understand.  

Steve S. Did you find yourself with lots of photographs you actually love from that lens?

Jay M. Not so much as a result of you may’t shoot that a lot with it. If you’re taking pictures within the metropolis you may solely shoot it a couple of dozen days a 12 months it’s both too scorching–an excessive amount of warmth coming from the constructing, or it’s too chilly.  With a film digicam it’s good to have that shimmer however on a nonetheless digicam, it simply appears out of focus.  

Steve S. You work with telephoto lenses so much.

Jay M. Well, you may have extra management with a telephoto over what you’re taking a look at.  As you placed on a large angle, you purchase the accountability for lots of actual property.

Steve S. Understood.  So you want the truth that you might compose the way in which you need it.

Jay M. Well, initially I don’t use the phrase “compose.” Compose is just related for those who’re controlling what’s occurring in entrance of you. What you’re speaking about is framing, and cropping.  It’s simply simpler with a telephoto. There is an inclination for every photographer to discover a approach of taking a look at issues that he’s snug with.  I like what’s within the heart of my footage and the extra I can get to the middle, the much less I’m concerned in peripheral.  If I’m concerned in peripheral, then I’m pondering when it comes to panoramic digicam.  

Steve S. I think when zooms began to enhance it was liberating for somebody such as you who appreciated telephoto lenses.  

Jay M. Well, the actual liberating factor was the current lens they got here out with, the 28-300.  That lens modified lots of issues for me. Before that I used to be strolling round with a stomach bag. My daughter stated “you look like such a dork with that thing.”  

And I’d very not often change for the 24-70mm lens that was within the stomach bag, due to inertia and the truth that I don’t see when it comes to extensive angle. I’m mainly a really lazy particular person. I’m not pro-active, I’m very reactive. So if it’s straightforward for me, I’ll use it. Before that, I used to be working the 70-300mm and the 24-70mm.  When they got here out with the 28-300mm it simply made life so much, lot higher. With a 70-300, something under 70mm, I needed to change. It’s inertia. So now I shoot with 28mm; I shoot with 50mm; no matter’s applicable. 

Steve S. I suppose some photographers is likely to be shocked as a result of each the 70-300mm and the 28-300mm aren’t very costly lenses.

Jay M. No, however they’re superb lenses. Sharper than hell.

Steve S. So, they’re sharp sufficient for you.

Jay M. They’re not sharp sufficient, they’re sharper than every other lenses I’ve used.  There could also be lots of lenses which are sharper that I don’t find out about, however the way in which I understand it, it’s a really sharp lens.

Steve S. I wish to know what you’ve received in your Nikon system.  What you may go to.  Now clearly you’ve talked about the 2000.

Jay M. I can go from a 14mm to a 2000mm. I received what I would like. I’m not a collector of kit.  I’ve it as a result of in some unspecified time in the future it was enjoyable to get that lens. If you’re asking what I’m utilizing, I’m utilizing the 28-300mm, that’s it. I’m not utilizing different lenses. I imply generally I’ll choose up a macro lens that I wish to idiot round with one thing shut, generally I’ll choose up an extended telephoto however mainly, after I exit on the road it’s 28-300mm, that’s it.

Steve S. So your system is a holdover out of your business task days?

Jay M. I felt an obligation to my shopper to have the ability to reply to any scenario in any approach I might. Now, I’m simply taking pictures for myself. 

Steve S. Tell me about your transition to Nikon digital.

Jay M. Sam Garcia pressured the D1 into my palms and stated “I know you don’t like it, but try it.”  And from that point on, that was it. I’ve shot within the final 10 years three rolls of movie.  All within the first two weeks.  No going again for me.  

Steve S. So, if Sam had not insisted, you actually weren’t that …

Jay M. No.  I wouldn’t have – I hate new cameras as a result of then I’ve received to study them and I’m gradual studying about them and fumbled fingers and left-fitted and I simply don’t choose up issues simply.  So each time Nikon comes out with a brand new digicam I’ve blended feelings. Oh shit, a brand new digicam, it’s a lot better, however I received to be taught it. 

Steve S. Right. So inform me about that early taking pictures expertise with the D1, what was you preliminary response?

Jay M. Oh, I liked it. I liked that I might see what I used to be getting. I liked the truth that the lenses that I placed on truly appeared longer than they have been. There was nothing I didn’t like about it. I by no means appeared again.

Steve S. We’ve come to this point in 10 years. 

Jay M. Here, I’ll provide you with one thing. Without doing the maths, what number of years do you suppose it was between the primary flight at Kitty Hawk and touchdown on the moon?

Steve S. Ahhhh….110?

Jay M. 60, 1909 to 1969.  

Steve S. Wow.

Jay M. So we do generally progress rapidly.  I don’t measure the D1 towards the D3S.  I measure the digicam that Kodak gave me to make use of in 1992 that required them sending out a man to hold the Diehard battery with it.  And it took eight footage in black and white. I used to be all the time reluctant to attempt new gear. I used to be by no means about gear. Guys would love the enjoyment of working with new gear. I used to be fucking terrified of latest gear. I definitely don’t wish to attempt something new and I can’t learn instruction booklets.

Jay M. There are different areas that I can shoot that I couldn’t shoot in earlier than. Very merely, I can shoot at night time. And I can shoot in low mild ranges. I suppose I really feel freer now than I ever have earlier than in what I’m capable of shoot. The day is for much longer than it was once as a result of I by no means shot at night time, except I needed to do a really particular factor. Because if I had movie within the digicam on the finish of the day, a half a roll left, I wasn’t going to throw that half a roll away simply on the possibility that possibly I’d take a shot at night time.  

Steve S.  What digicam are you utilizing now?

Jay M. The D3S. Sometimes I exploit the main focus the place I hit the very first thing. I don’t know the identify for it. And generally I apply it to one factor that strikes round.

Steve S. Okay, the dynamic, not the 3D factor?

Jay M. Yeah.  I don’t know the names. I received a headache even speaking about it. I all the time use auto focus.  I exploit auto every thing till I see that it doesn’t know what I need after which I’ve to go to handbook. I feel there’s an ego amongst some photographers the place there’s “I’m in control.” I’ve that ego, too, to a sure level, however I’m in command of what I wish to {photograph}. I’m in command of what I’m going to make use of as a result of I do know what I need my aperture to be. As far as focus goes, if I wish to focus in another way than the auto, I do.  But strolling alongside the road mainly I do not know what I’m going to be excited by. It can deal with it a lot quicker than I might. I by no means ever used handbook focus as quickly as there was an autofocus.

Steve S. So you might focus in your topic, reasonably than worrying concerning the technical a lot.

Jay M. Yeah.

Steve S. What about video?

Jay M. I idiot round a bit of bit. I’m not excited by it that a lot. When my child was born, I purchased a movement image digicam which I gave to my spouse and stated right here, I actually wish to do the nonetheless footage. She by no means used it. Her excuse was that she was a mom and he or she was doing that.  And in fact she was completely proper.  So I shot a bit of bit, a really, little or no bit with it.  And what I’ve is simply extremely valuable as a result of we didn’t have a voice or something in nonetheless footage. But I’m not sorry as a result of I actually like taking pictures stills. But it doesn’t imply I gained’t shoot movies sooner or later. Right now, it doesn’t hit me that a lot.

Steve S. What recommendation would you may have when it comes to constructing a Nikon System?

Jay M. I don’t have any recommendation for anyone, I’m sorry.  I’m not the recommendation man on gear. I’d say shoot as a lot as you need and shoot with as little gear as you may.  You stroll round with a pack, all of your power goes to carrying the shit.

Steve S. What do you suppose is on the horizon for Nikon shooters?  Do you may have any expectations for what’s coming or what you’d wish to see?

Jay M. I noticed Bill Pekela in Wyoming.  He known as me over.  “If you keep talking to our senior engineers about how the camera’s built upside down I will have you killed.” 

I stated the digicam is constructed incorrect. It all the time has been constructed incorrect.  It might be corrected 50 years from now and I need credit score for it as a result of I’m the one one which makes a giant factor of it. The digicam’s constructed the other way up. Look. Here’s the digicam, proper?  There’s the lens proper? Look the place the lens is in relation to the desk. Okay? Now flip the digicam the other way up; look the place the lens is in relation to the desk. The lens is greater. When you come down right here it’s that a lot decrease. You’re gaining 5 inches.  

Maybe this can make it simpler to grasp. Let’s say for instance the digicam was 5 toes excessive and the lens was down right here. What would occur for those who turned that digicam the other way up? The lens can be 5 toes greater. So once you’re taking pictures it this manner, you’re taking pictures at some man’s toes. When you’re taking pictures it this manner, you’re taking pictures at a head. With our cameras as an alternative of 5 toes it’s 5 inches. That is my main grievance, however that’s with each digicam.

Steve S. If you have been on a step that may allow you to shoot 5 inches greater, it will be the identical, proper? Being up 5 inches. A greater perspective to be taking pictures from and  the other of at the moment’s digicam design. 

Jay M. It’ll make you 5 inches taller.

Steve S. Okay, I get it. Alright possibly any person will take your recommendation on that

Jay M. Not in my lifetime. 

Steve S. Any different concepts?

Jay M. At one level I stated to any person at Nikon, “why are you screwing around with all these slow lenses?  We need speed.”  And now that I’ve such a excessive ISO I perceive why they’re doing the gradual lenses.  Whether it was deliberate forward, unbiased or simply full luck, I don’t know, nevertheless it has labored out for me. I now stroll round with an F5.6 lens.  I by no means placed on my 50mm f1.4.  I identical to having the depth of change from 28 to 300mm.  

Steve S. What concerning the bokeh of say the 200mm F2…  

Jay M. Yeah, I like that. But you modify as a photographer. The out-of-focus telephoto shot is lots of enjoyable nevertheless it’s not as a lot of a problem.  And I do wish to problem myself so for me the problem is to make use of a large angle lens. The issue is in 35mm.  I consider that karma is telling me to not use a 35mm lens ever, as a result of I’ve gone by about seven of them.

Steve S. Really?

Jay M. Off the tops of buildings, rolling into San Francisco Bay, misplaced by assistants, left in taxicabs.  There’s one thing about 35mm lenses that doesn’t like me.

Steve S. Got you.  They try to escape.  

Jay M. They try to escape.  

Steve S. Have you had different unhealthy issues occur the place you’ve misplaced main stuff  whereas taking pictures?  

Jay M. Oh, I’ve misplaced main stuff.  I don’t have something the place they survived.  They survived dropping and stuff like that however I used to be photographing for Sports Illustrated on the showering swimsuit version.  I used to be photographing Cheryl Tiegs and I used to be barefoot.  I used to be within the water along with her and I stepped on a sea urchin. I had three cameras and I went down with all three.  Fortunately, I introduced six with me.

Steve S. Wow. So you have been okay; she was okay?

Jay M. She was nice, she laughed.

Steve S. Did you get a shot of her as you have been falling?

Jay M. No, no.  

Steve S. Okay, so clearly you’ve received to have, type of, the backup once you’re engaged on a job. 

Jay M. Not now.  Now I simply have one digicam.  

Steve S. Did Nikon shock you with this new 28mm-300mm?

Jay M. Oh, I used to be simply knocked aside by that. When they informed me that that they had a 70-300mm I used to be amazed. And after they informed me that they had a 28-300mm, properly this one will most likely be a compromise as a result of, nevertheless it wasn’t. It’s unbelievably sharp.

Jay Maisel Trivia

• Before changing into a photographer, Jay studied portray and graphic design at Cooper Union and Yale, the place he earned his BFA in 1953.
• Jay practiced karate and reportedly positioned second within the 1963 North American Karate Championships at Madison Square Garden.
• While learning at Yale, he labored with Buckminster Fuller and a bunch of scholar artists and designers on fashions and geodesic buildings.
• Jay photographed the primary two covers of New York Magazine, together with its inaugural difficulty in April 1968.
• He photographed 5 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers. His first, that includes Sue Peterson, appeared in 1965, one 12 months after the journal launched its annual swimsuit difficulty.
• His {photograph} of Miles Davis performing on the Apollo Theater grew to become the quilt of the 1959 album Kind of Blue, well known because the bestselling jazz album of all time.
• Jay purchased the previous Germania Bank constructing at 190 Bowery in 1966 for $102,000. It took roughly a 12 months to clear it out earlier than he started reworking its 72 rooms into his residence, studio and archive the place he and his household lived for almost 50 years.
• Artists Roy Lichtenstein and Adolph Gottlieb rented studio area from Jay and labored within the financial institution constructing for roughly two years.
• Jay lived and labored at 190 Bowery for almost fifty years, frequently filling its six flooring with images, objects and issues that caught his eye.
• After promoting the constructing for $55 million in 2015, he had six months to maneuver out. Emptying a lifetime’s accumulation took roughly 5 months of preparation and between 30 and 40 truckloads.

Here is the unofficial checklist of Nikon cameras utilized by Jay Maisel:

• Nikon F: 1959 onward
• Nikon F3
• Nikon F4
• Nikon F5
• Nikon D1: switched to digital round 2000
• Nikon D3
• Nikon D3S
• Nikon D4S: reported as a later go-to physique

Maisel explicitly acknowledged that he by no means owned a Nikon F2. A Nikon D810 was additionally used to digitize his movie archive, however this was a part of his scanning workflow reasonably than essentially a digicam he used for his personal images. He even provides the variety of Nikon our bodies he owned for the movie cameras: 16 Nikon F our bodies, 8 Nikon F3s, 4-5 Nikon F4S, and one Nikon F5.

Nikon honors Jay Maisel: